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Apple Maps Accidentally Reveals Secret Military Base In Taiwan

Posted by Soulskill on from the no-harm-no-foul dept.

redletterdave writes "After one Taiwanese newspaper snapped and printed a satellite photo of a top-secret military base from the new Maps application running on an iPhone 5, the defense ministry of Taiwan on Tuesday publicly requested Apple blur the sensitive images of the country's classified military installations. The top-secret radar base, located in the northern county of Hsinchu, contains a highly-advanced ultra-high-frequency long-range radar that military officials say can detect missiles launched as far away as the city of Xinjiang, which is located in northwest China. The radar system was obtained via U.S.-based defense group Raytheon in 2003, and is still being constructed with hopes to be completed by the end of this year. 'Regarding images taken by commercial satellites, legally we can do nothing about it,' said David Lo, the spokesman of Taiwan's defense ministry, in a statement to reporters. 'But we'll ask Apple to lower the resolution of satellite images of some confidential military establishments the way we've asked Google in the past.'"

3 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Streisand Effect by Roogna · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Is it me, or is blurring/removing something from these maps the absolute ideal way to tell the entire world: "There's something really important to someone here."

    I can see the conversation now. "How do I get to the Secret Base?" -- "Take a left and follow the road until it disappears on your map, then you're there."

  2. Re:Uh, maybe... by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The images of a base showed up, so they gave everyone the specs and capabilities of the radar system in their request to hide the base again? That doesn't seem very clever.

    You know, there may be at least a very small chance that they were not entirely forthcoming when they disclosed the capabilities and purpose of the facility in question...

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  3. Re:Uh, maybe... by DRJlaw · · Score: 3, Interesting

    More seriously, though, China has its own spy satellites and certainly has detailed aerial imagery of Taiwan probably in excess of the quality available to commercial imaging satellites. This information being known to the public isn't really going to change anything -- it's not like the average person is going to be able to do anything to a radar installation on a military base.

    You don't say?
    How about an above average militant?

    There is quite a leap from protester (or militant) with access to low resolution imagery and state military with access to state-launched spy satellite high resolution imagery. For instance, the state military is unlikely to launch an attack unless the leadership of that country has decided instigate a de facto war. The "average person," on the other hand, has little other means for obtaining details concerning internal security fences, obscured lines of sight, illuminated and non-illuminated areas, etc. The sort of information that you'd need to plan an infiltration in advance.

    There is quite a difference, but you either fail to appreciate it or do not care. Military personnel both appreciate the difference and care. Most people with a passing knowledge of military history apprecite the difference and care.

    So... no.